Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-28
THE RAIL WAY PoSTOFfICe CAR.
The Discovery Of Tnis Method Of Dis.
tributip. the Mails.


The doom Of the old time distributing
Office was sealed with the advent of the
railway po~rotIice car The discovery of
this methOd of distributing and fastening
the mails was made July 1859 hy Will
lam II. Davis, Of st Joseph, Mo, an EN-
ploye of the 3ostotiice in that city. In
that month he operated the first post
office car ever placed on wheels in this
country. on the Hannibal and St Joseph
railroad. The plan proved to be 50 emf
nently successful that it speedily came
into general Use, and worked a revolution
in the railway mail service. Before the
day of the RAILWAY postoffice letters crept
as snail. aud since il advent they fly as
on the wings of steam. Under this sys-
TEN there is never pause in the onward
flight Of the mails until the Offices of des
tination are reached. Through letters,
like restless footballs. are tossed from one
flying poStOfiCe car TO another until the
end of the route is reached. or they are
consigned 10 the slower movements of
stage coaches or pony expresses. Way
mail is snatched up by the flying post
office cars, and is as unceremOniously
dropped again when the Office Of destina
tion glimmerS past.
The postal clerk is genius who must
necessarily understand the name and
locality Of every artery, vein, tissue and
fiber in the entire postal system. When
he takes up a letter addressed 10 a remote
Office. he must at Il glance understand the
various lines Of travel over which it is 10
pass. and it is his duty to send il 10y the
most expeditions route. The postal clerk
is required Ia commit to memory the
names of all the offices coAtained in the
various states included in his division.
The average number of offices so com
mitted i about 5000 for the entire syS
ten. Perhaps the most difficult duty
known to the postal clerk is that of distri
buting the mails for the larger cities. II
is very difficult task to remember the
scheme Of New York city, yet the postal
clerk is required to distribute all New
York mail by stations, streets. numbers
and boxes. Fifth Avenue hotel mail is
thrown into It's proper box at station
f. The Grand Central gets its let
tiers at station 4. - 80 Of all firms, in
stitutiOnS and leading individuals. The
various carrier routes are made up in the
same manner. \ letter addressed to No.
l+5 Washington street would be placed in
a package for Carrier No. 10" The
Times huildng mail is carried by NO
3d. The Tribune by No. SO
The postal clerk must know the various
mail routes as familiarly rs he does the
faces of his best friends His ear, with
its tier over tier of pigeon holes, and its
ranks Of yawDinG mail bags, is TO him no
labyrinth of mysteries. His eyes are i'll
his fingers, and the skillful musicians
touch iS not more accurate than the aim
Of this wizard Of the mail car The de
partncnt rules are eNacting, and il an
occasional error results from the hurried
manner in which the mail is thrown, in
course of distribution, il is sure To be de-
tected by the next clerk into whose hands
the stray piece of mail falls, and a report
of it Is al once sent to the division super
intendent to be charged against the clerk
making the error. During the fiscal year
ending June 30. 1886, the number OF
letters aud other pieces Of mail matter
distributed was 1920, 52l ATS The mum.
Der of errors made in handling this vast
quantity Of matter was only 1,26O, ALB.
The number Of pieces handled for each
error committed We're 4 22S, thus making
the percentage OF correct distribution
1898. All employees are required to at
test their skill by frequent examinations,
and for this purpose much of the leisure
time Of each i devoted TO studying the
mail schemes of the various states attach
ing TO the division in which he is EN-.
ployed John Nj. Bishop M Magazine OF
American History.
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